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The Group of Eight universities understand that connecting with business and government is a vital element in their efforts to advance Australia’s wellbeing. Committees of senior staff within Group of Eight universities work collaboratively on a range of issues including research and research commercialisation.
If your business would like to find out more about engaging with one of these committees please contact the Go8 secretariat.

By preparing the next generation of professional leaders and innovators, discovering new knowledge and building relationships nationally and internationally, Go8 universities contribute to advancing Australia's wellbeing and solving the major challenges confronting the world.

Universities play a central role in Australia’s innovation system and support the business sector, and individual firms, in many direct and indirect ways. Universities provide Australia with a continuing supply of highly educated graduates, knowledgeable about the most recent developments in their disciplines and able to apply their expertise, understanding and skills within the particular circumstances of their employment. Universities are also major generators of the new knowledge which advances understanding and, through its integration with complementary expertise and existing practic

There is an ongoing discussion in Australia on the need to improve the linkages between business and universities. Not surprisingly, this issue tends to receive more attention as financial and budgetary conditions tighten and as governments look for more immediate and visible returns on their investments. This is because capturing the commercial benefits of university research will often depend on business.

Business and universities are different but complementary parts of the national innovation system and the effectiveness of the system depends on them working together. Linkages require reciprocity and both sectors need to play a role in initiating and strengthening them; neither sector can act in isolation from the other and all parties need to respond to the needs and concerns of the others.

Global rankings of universities receive a lot of attention from the media, the higher education sector and individual universities. While such rankings have their shortcomings and the position of individual universities will vary according to the particular criteria a ranking scheme uses to assess institutional excellence, they nevertheless provide a tool that provides information useful for a variety of purposes.

Introduction
The Group of Eight comprise Australia’s eight leading research universities. Their performance and reputation as research institutions is vital to the international reputation of Australian higher education sector as a whole.

Mike Teece, Go8 Director, Policy, presented a paper at the 2011 Forum of the Australasian Association for Institutional Research (AAIR) in November 2011. The paper re-examined university applications and offers data collated by DIISRTE to examine the impact of a move to demand-driven funding of undergraduate university places.

Go8 Backgrounder 6: Mission-based funding compacts with public universities explores the possible uses of compacts in government financing of university activities, examines their potential costs and benefits, and outlines principles for their design and implementation.